[Federal Register: March 17, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 51)]
[Notices]
[Page 12662-12663]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17mr03-34]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Baked Apple Fire Salvage Project, Umpqua National Forest, Douglas
County, OR
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS) for a fire salvage timber sale and connected actions
within the Panther Creek watershed planning area of the North Umpqua
Ranger District. These actions include timber salvage sales, the
construction of temporary roads, site preparation, tree planting,
hazardous fuels (slash) reduction, road decommissioning, road repair,
restoration of non-commercial stands, and soil restoration through
felling of snags to create down wood. The planning area is located
approximately 43 miles east of Roseburg, Oregon. The project is
expected to be implemented starting in 2004 through 2006. The agency
gives notice of the full environmental analysis and decision-making
process that will occur on the proposal so that interested and affected
people may become aware of how they can participate in the process and
contribute to the final decision.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received
in writing, by April 18, 2003.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments and suggestions concerning this
proposal to Carol Cushing, District Ranger, North Umpqua Ranger
District, 18782 North Umpqua Highway, Glide, Oregon, 97443.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Direct questions about the proposed
action or EIS to Debbie Anderson, ID Team Leader, North Umpqua Ranger
District, 18782 North Umpqua Highway, Glide, Oregon 97443, or (541)
496-3532.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The area being analyzed in the Baked Apple
Fire Salvage Project EIS encompasses approximately 13,925 acres of
National Forest System land on the North Umpqua Ranger District. The
planning area is bounded to the North by the North Umpqua River, to the
South by the North Umpqua River/Little River Divide, to the East by
Calf Ridge, and to the West by Panther Ridge. The planning area
includes all or portions of sections 9, 10, and 14 through 36, T26S,
R1E; sections 19 and 30, T26S, R2E; and sections 2 through 5, and 9
through 11, T27S, R1E, Willamette Meridian, Douglas County, Oregon.
The proposed action is based on the need to recover portions of the
Panther Creek subwatershed burned by the 2002 Apple Fire. The Apple
Fire, which started on August 16, 2002, burned almost 18,000 acres of
early, mid, and late seral forests on the North Umpqua Ranger District.
Within the perimeter of the Apple Fire, the Panther Creek subwatershed
burned with the highest intensity, completely consuming large swaths of
forest over a 4,000-acre area, particularly within Limpy Creek. All
treatments occur on lands allocated as Matrix and are consistent with
the 1990 Umpqua National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan
(Forest Plan), as amended. All salvage treatments specifically avoid
roadless areas, the wild and scenic river corridor and visually
sensitive area, owl cores, cultural sites, and areas identified as
unsuitable, unstable, or riparian reserves. The timber salvage proposal
is based on the need to recover the economic value of the burned wood
in the scorched and severely burned portion of the watershed before it
decays, which will contribute wood products to the local economy and
jobs to the County and State. Slash treatment is based on the need to
reduce activity-generated fuels in order to keep fuel loads within
parameters prescribed by the Forest. Reforestation is based on the need
to return the burned areas within subwatershed to the productive forest
that is was prior to the fire. Haul related roadwork is needed in order
to ensure that the road system is safe for haul. Construction and
reconstruction of temporary spur roads, reconstruction and/or expansion
of landings, construction new landings, and use of existing rock pits
is needed to facilitate removal and hauling of wood. Snag felling for
large wood is needed to
[[Page 12663]]
maintain a source of large wood that will decay, helping contribute to
soil productivity. Treatment of pre-commercial stands to remove fuels
and re-establish seedlings is needed to return those stands to the
productive forests that they were prior to the fire.
The proposed action timber sale related activities include: Salvage
harvest on approximately 1,226 acres (retaining between 6 and 12 trees
per acre for shade and large wood recruitment); reforestation and
seedling protection (with species native to the site) on about 1,095
acres; slash treatment on about 1,171 acres (including grapple piling,
underburning, hand pile burning, and yarding of tops attached); road
work (culvert replacement and road stabilization of two sites) along
Forest Service Road 4714 and construction and reconstruction (about 1.1
miles) of temporary spur roads; construct and reconstruct up to 39
landings; and use 2 existing rock pits and establish 6 stockpile sites
along existing roads to store rock and excavated material. Connected
actions that would be accomplished include: Felling of snags on salvage
units; site preparation and reforestation; and road reconstruction and
decommissioning work.
The acreage proposed for harvest is estimated to yield up to 50
million board feet of timber, which may result in 5 to 6 separate
timber sales. This volume and acreage estimates are likely to decrease
as a result of finalizing riparian reserves and unsuitable or unstable
soils boundaries, and as the smaller diameter wood begins to decay. The
areas prescribed for harvest will require a combination of helicopter,
skyline and ground-based harvesting equipment. Alternatives may reflect
different harvest equipment combinations. Alternatives to be considered
include the No Action Alternative, the proposed action, and
alternatives to the proposed action.
Preliminary issues, as identified by the Forest and by scoping that
has been conducted to date, include the following related to the
proposed action: The economic efficiency and viability; the potential
affect on the late successional habitat and species within the Panther
Creek Watershed; and the potential affect on water quality and aquatic
conditions for aquatic and riparian dependent species.
The scoping effort is intended to identify issues, which may lead
to the development of alternatives to the proposed action. One of the
purposes of this notice of intent is to solicit input from the public
as part of the overall scoping effort. In addition to this notice, the
public will be notified of the EIS through the Umpqua National Forest's
April 2003 quarterly publication ``Schedule of Proposed Actions''.
Comments received in response to this notice and through scoping,
including names and addresses of those who comment, will be considered
part of the public record on this proposed action and will be available
for public inspection. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted
and considered; however, those who submit anonymous comments will not
have standing to appeal the subsequent decision under 36 CFR parts 215
or 217. Additionally, pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any person may request
the agency to withhold a submission from the public record by showing
how the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) permits such confidentiality.
Persons requesting such confidentiality should be aware that, under the
FOIA, confidentiality may be granted in only very limited
circumstances, such as to protect trade secrets. The Forest Service
will inform the requester of the agency's decision regarding the
request for confidentiality, and where the request is denied, the
agency will return the submission and notify the requester that the
comments may be resubmitted with or without name and address within a
specified number of days.
Public comments are appreciated throughout the analysis process.
The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and be available for public review by July 2003. The
comment period on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the date the EPA
publishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register. The final
EIS is scheduled to be available October 2003.
The Forest Service believes it is important to give reviewers
notice of this early stage of public participation and of several court
rulings related to public participation in the environmental review
process. First, reviewers of a draft EIS must structure their
participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it is
meaningful and alerts an agency to the reviewer's position and
contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519,
553 (1978). Also, environmental objections that could have been raised
at the draft stage may be waived or dismissed by the court if not
raised until after completion of the final EIS. City of Angoon v.
Hodel, 803 f.2d 1016, 1022 (9th Cir, 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages,
Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). Because of
these court rulings, it is very important that those interested in this
proposed action participate by the close of the 45-day comment period
so substantive comments and objections are made available to the Forest
Service at a time when it can meaningful consider and respond to them
in the final EIS.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft EIS should
be as specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer to
specific pages or chapters of the draft statement. Comments may also
address the adequacy of the draft EIS or the merits of the alternatives
formulated and discussed in the statement. (Reviewers may wish to refer
to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing
the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of
40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.)
In the final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to
substantive comments and responses received during the comment period
that pertain to the environmental consequences discussed in the draft
EIS and applicable laws, regulations, and policies considered in making
a decision regarding the proposal. The Responsible Official is Carol
Cushing, District Ranger of the North Umpqua Ranger District, Umpqua
National Forest. The Responsible Official will document the decision
and rationale for the decision in a Record of Decision. The decision
will be subject to review under Forest Service Appeal Regulations (36
CFR part 215).
Dated: March 7, 2003.
James A. Caplan,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 03-6269 Filed 3-14-03; 8:45 am]
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